Real Wedding

Baltimore Coffee House Wedding: Ashley & Jerrica

June 4, 2016

Ashley and Jerrica met online and had a few Skype dates before finally meeting for brunch one weekend. Well, a “few” Skype dates may be an understatement according to Ashley. They would spend hours watching each other go through normal routines as if they were in the room together then fall asleep next to their laptops. It was like they were kids again.

Ashley proposed to Jerrica on a sunny spring date at a local winery. She had a grander plan to propose at their favorite wine bar in Baltimore, but unfortunately that part of the city was shut down due to the 2015 protests. So, instead she had Jerrica plan the day for them, and two of her best friends who were in town from North Carolina.

It was such a gorgeous day, Jerrica chose the winery for a visit. When Ashley proposed, she poured her heart out and pulled a diamond ring from her pocket. At first, Jerrica thought she was joking and playing a cruel prank, but when she realized Ashley was truly proposing, she grabbed the ring from her finger and put it on her own before she could even get “YES!” out of her mouth!

After the winery, they headed back to their house and Ashley had a surprise engagement party waiting on their arrival. All of their closest friends and family were there, so Jerrica snuck upstairs to get the engagement ring she had been hiding for months and proposed to Ashley in front of all of their guests.

On the hunt for an intimate wedding venue, they stumbled across their spot in Baltimore. The coffee shop is an old stone mill with rustic and industrial charm. They instantly fell in love with the feel of the venue. Add that to the private and well-kept courtyard for the ceremony, and the top-notch food and they knew they found the place where they would say “I Do.”

Neither Jerrica, nor Ashley had a vision for their wedding day, so they started from scratch with every detail. Most of their guests were from out of town, so it required planning as if it was a destination wedding. Jerrica’s favorite moment of the day was when she and her 81-year-old grandfather took to the dance floor and about 45 seconds into the dance, he launched in to all sorts of 1960s dance moves. It was hard to keep up! Ashley agrees that during the wedding, that moment stands out, but her most memorable moment happened earlier in the day, before the wedding.

Jerrica has always been the person to calm Ashley down. After a couple of hours in the hotel by herself, reality kicked in, and though Ashley did not have cold feet or regrets, she needed Jerrica’s arms around her. She just needed to share her anxiousness and readiness with her.

Seeing their friends and family smile, laugh, and dance together to celebrate the two of them in full support, after everything they had been through during their “coming out” phase is their joint favorite memory. It was always, and still isn’t always, easy in every situation, but feeling and witnessing that support was priceless.

The happy brides shared the following advice for other couples, “Although you shouldn’t have to add a disclaimer for every vendor you speak with, get a quote from, hire, we always let them know we were having a same-sex wedding. We did this to avoid any discrimination on our actual wedding day whether it be from the florist, venue, caterer, photographer, etc. In doing so, we were able to find amazing vendors who helped make our wedding day perfect.”